Sealed Part 2
by Tinni93
Summary: Jayden continues to be at war with himself and the truth about his Sealing Symbol Power, while Deker and Dayu face their pasts. Master Xandred sends out a possessing Nighlok to end the rangers once and for all.
1. Haunted

**SEALED PART 2**

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Power Rangers in any way shape or form.**

It was yet another dawn at the ranger house. The rangers were in the outdoor training area. The sun hanging above brought heat down on the team which added to their training in a difficult way. Mike and Emily sparred with one another while Kevin and Mia did the same. Antonio did some tech training of his own, sitting on a bench fidgeting with his Gold Morpher.

Jayden was busy stick fighting with the training dummy. The katana in his hands landed hard blow after blow on the opponent before him. Like he had been a lot lately, he was deep in thought. It was as if he wasn't even there. Something was weighing heavily on his mind. As he trained, he heard Deker's voice ring in his mind.

"_You act all righteous when you've been lying to your friends all along."_

Remembering these words fueled Jayden to hit the dummy even harder. He screamed 'Hyahs' over and over with each strike that landed. Each hit was more intense than the one before. He paused for a brief moment and glanced at the dummy. Xandred's face appeared and taunted the red ranger. It was all in his mind but to him, it couldn't of felt more real. He felt a gasp leave his lungs when the lord of the Nighlok appeared.

"_**Go ahead and seal me away, Red Ranger! I'll be happy knowing that my defeat means yours as well!**__"_

Jayden felt his arms shake in pure fury. He let out a loud roar, that made himself call attention to the other rangers. The team quickly halted what they were doing and turned worriedly to their leader. But Jayden just continued to whack the dummy with every ounce of strength he had in him. He hit it so hard that it began to crack and break from the force. However, this still wasn't enough to make Jayden let up.

Immediately Kevin dropped his own katana stick and ran over to his friend's side. He grabbed onto Jayden's arms from behind and attempted to restrain him.

"Jayden!" he called out to him. "Calm down! It's just a prop!"

But it was as if the others weren't even near him. Despite Kevin's clinging onto him, he still wailed on the dummy. Kevin quickly turned to the rest of the team. "Guys, help me out here!" he yelled to them, feeling his grip loosening.

Mia ran up to them and pulled out her Samuraizer a fast as she could. "Symbol Power—stop!" she shouted, drawing a pink symbol into the air and sending onto Jayden. It was as if someone had pressed pause. He froze mid-swing.

Kevin slowly let go of Jayden and took a few cautious steps backwards. A beat later, the red ranger resumed in his movements. He fell forward onto the obliterated dummy, weary and panting from his outburst. He looked at what damage he had caused in horror, then back to his friends.

Mike looked at Jayden with wide eyes. "Jayden…bro, what _was_ that?" he asked.

Jayden just sighed and stood there a moment. He wanted to tell him what the real problem was, but he couldn't put a burden like that on his friends. He had never felt so conflicted in his life. His eyes remained wide in fear as he peered back at the dummy. He shook his head a few times before answering.

"I'm…I'm sorry but…I need some time alone." He told them in a dark voice, pushing himself up to stand, then quickly walking away from the other rangers.

Emily walked up to the badly damaged dummy and picked up a piece of it that had broken off. "Something isn't right…" she said slowly. "We need to go after him." She added.

Antonio stood, still stunned by what he had just witnessed. "But…he said that he wanted to be alone." He reminded them.

"Something horrible is on his mind." Mia added.

Kevin looked at all the damage with concern. "From the look of things he's struggling bad with something."

Mike shook his head. "Something is torturing that guy. It's obvious there's something he's hiding from us." He said.

"And we need to find out what it is…" Emily interjected. "…and fast."

Kevin nodded at her. "I hate to go against our leader's wishes, but that's what being a team is all about. Let's go find him." He said, the others nodding in agreement and running after Jayden.

XXX

Meanwhile, at the Sanzu River, Xandred sat weakly against the floor of the rocking boat. The rising and falling of the water made his head pound even harder. He guzzled his medicine to try and relieve his pain. Dayu was busy plucking the strings of her harmonium, deep in thought herself.

"**Octoroo!**" Xandred shouted in a loud roar. "**You had better have a powerful new monster for me after that pathetic monstrosity with Scorp!**"

Octoroo just turned to his master slowly, trying to not worsen his anger any further. "Ooh-ahh-ooh! I sure do!"he answered. With that, he waved his arm in one swift motion. No monster appeared from the river like they usually did. Instead, a black mist blew throughout the boat.

Dayu let out a loud gasp, feeling something foreign enter her body and dropped her harmonium in the process. Her eyes flashed red briefly and she turned an dropped three Moogers like they were paper targets. A few seconds later, the mist exited her body and she hit her knees, looking at the monster that had now materialized before her.

"You were…" Dayu gasped. "…in my body." After catching her breath, she winced and reached for her harmonium.

"Indeed." Octoroo answered proudly. "Meet Poe, a Nighlok that can enter the body of anyone he wishes." He explained.

Poe wasn't even a true monster, he looked like a purple flame with deep black eyes and floated in midair.

"**So you're saying he can posses the Red Ranger and learn that Sealing Symbol for us?**" Xandred asked, already completely satisfied with this new Nighlok.

Dayu stood up weakly, her body still reeling from Poe controlling her. "But…Master Xandred…you said you would let Deker handle the Red Ranger."

Xandred just growled angrily. "**I don't care what Deker thinks! I follow no one's orders but my own!**" he screamed. "**Now, go get him!**" he ordered the flame-like spirit.

Poe answered in his deep, hissing voice. "On my way." He said, floating eerily out of the ship, off to claim his victim.


	2. Poesession

Jayden walked along the side of the ocean with a sad look on his face. His pace had slowed from a sprint to a small stride. He had lost the will to even run at this point. The sounds of the ocean waves hit his ears, normally he found this place a sanctuary when he had a problem, but he didn't even notice the soothing sounds. At this point he knew that his strange and extreme behavior was raising suspicion in his fellow rangers. He feared that the secret of his sealing Symbol Power was becoming more apparent, that when he used it to seal away Master Xandred for good, the amount of energy it took would destroy him in the process.

Jayden finally stopped and gazed at the tides in the distance. "I can't tell them." He thought to himself. "They would just try to handle things themselves and risk getting destroyed as well. I won't let them fall defending me—it'd be pointless. I'm going to be destroyed either way." He thought, closing his eyes at the thought.

At that moment, he felt a cold breeze blow by his face, when he quickly turned to see what the cause of it was, he saw nothing. He reached for his Samuraizer and Spin Sword, bracing himself for whatever was coming.

"Red Ranger…" a dark, ghastly voice whispered. As the voice spoke he felt the breeze once more.

"Jayden!" he heard Kevin call out from the distance.

Jayden turned, distracted to his Blue Ranger friend and as he did, a black mist entered his body. He immediately felt his body lock and tighten, he fell to his knees and then face down.

"Oh no!" Mia cried as she watched him collapse into the sand. As she and the other ranger began to run to his aid, they were interrupted by a large group of Mooger, preventing them from getting any closer. Jayden just squirmed on the ground, feeling an evil spread throughout his entire body.

Emily had a look of horror on her face while she swatted Moogers out of her line of vision. "Jayden's down you guys!" she cried. "We have to help him!"

Mike did a spin kick to the Mooger that stood in front of him. "Something definitely isn't right! It's like they were planning on ambushing us!" he yelled in effort.

With that, they rangers all flipped open their Samuraizers. "Go, go samurai!" they shouted, drawing their symbols into the air as fast as they could.

"Gold power!" Antonio added on at the end.

A split second later, they were all in ranger form.

Antonio gasped, seeing a group of Moogers darting toward his childhood friend. "Not so fast!" he warned the enemies, doing a high leap over to the Red Ranger. He stood in front of him in protection.

Jayden had an intense grimace on his face as he looked up to the Gold Ranger. "Antonio…" he grunted. "Don't protect me…help…the others." He managed to choke out.

Antonio just turned to him and folded his arms. "That wouldn't be very golden now, would it?" he asked playfully, withdrawing his small dagger weapon. "Barracuda Blade!" he shouted, staring down the Moogers that surrounded him and Jayden. "Picking on him in this condition—real classy!" he waved his dagger at the monsters. "Barracuda Bite!" he exclaimed, downing the Moogers in one fell swoop. He chuckled while he watched them fall. "I didn't think they'd go down that easily!" he said, sheathing his blade.

Antonio knelt beside Jayden, who was now writhing even harder than a few moments ago. "Woah…what's wrong, man?" he asked in worry, pinning Jayden's bucking body down.

"There's no time for all this!" Kevin yelled in anger, wanting to hurry to Jayden as fast as he could. "Come on guys! It's Quintuple Slash time!" he added, he and the three other rangers beside him taking out their Spin Swords.

"Spin Swords!" They all yelled in unison. "Quintuple Slash!" They then all swung their swords as hard as they could at the Moogers, beams of blue, pink, green and yellow all annihilating the baddies, much to their delight.

"Whoo!" Mike cheered. "That did it!"

After the Moogers were dealt with, they rangers all sheathed their Spin Swords and demorphed. As fast as their legs could carry them, they ran over to Jayden and Antonio, the Gold Ranger demorphing as well.

Jayden just stared blankly at the sky above, jerking hard from side to side.

Emily hit her knees next to him. "What's happening to him?" she shrieked. "Did you see what caused this, Antonio?" she asked.

Antonio shook his head in confusion. "No, he was already like this when I came over here." He answered. He had no idea what was wrong with him, he knew in the back of his mind that they Moogers weren't capable of something of this caliber.

The cold wind that Jayden had felt before blew one final time, the rangers all raising their arms in defense. Then the breeze subsided as quickly as it came. As the breeze ended, so did Jayden's harsh squirming. His body went motionless and his eyes were closed. For a brief moment, the rangers all suspected the worst.

"Hey…hey, man." Kevin said, gently slapping the Red Ranger's face to wake him. "Wake up!"

Jayden's body then levitated upwards as if being pulled up in a harness of some sort. He landed softly on his feet, his eyes opening as he hit the sand. Once his eyes were open, they flashed red and quickly went back to normal. He looked over to his allies and grinned mischievously in way the others had never seen before.

"Jayden…are you alright?" Mike asked, raising a brow at him. To go from writhing to grinning was enough to raise questions.

Jayden just looked down and picked up his Spin Sword, now holding it backhand, which was a technique only Antonio ever used. "Never better." He answered in a dark voice, still smiling in an eerie manner.

Mia gently took his arm and began to guide him. "Maybe…we should get you home…" she said hesitantly. All of the rangers looked at one another in confusion. They all thought something was wrong. Jayden _never_ altered his fighting style, not to mention his stance.

Jayden just blinked slowly. "Yes. Let's do that." He answered.

As he and the other rangers began to head back to the Shiba house, Emily and Kevin held back for a moment, looking at one another in concern. They knew something wasn't right and neither of them had any idea what it was.


	3. Blurry

Later that night, Deker sat in the One Way Forest in front of a crackling fire he had made earlier. The half-Nighlok slipped in and out of consciousness, his hand resting against his mouth. The sound of the crickets was soothing to his ears, making it that much harder to stay awake. Deker felt very comfortable in this forest, even though he didn't know why. Something here felt familiar, and stirred feelings he didn't know he had anymore. Once he was totally under, he felt himself begin to dream.

_It was about two hundred years ago and Deker was dressed in a fancy black and white tuxedo. His long hair was slicked back into a neat ponytail. He was in a lovely house in a forest with a just as lovely brunette woman. She was absolutely beautiful, her eyes were as green as the trees that surrounded the house. She wore a long white wedding gown that grazed the floor. The curls of her hair rested against her shoulders and a wide smile was on her face. She held up her left hand that held a diamond ring and wedding band on her ring finger. Deker smiled when he saw this and raised his left hand as well, showing her his own silver wedding band. _

_Deker looked at the woman in awe. He gently brushed his fingers through her hair and went in to kiss her. Once he opened his eyes after the kiss, her face was blurry, he couldn't make out a single feature on her. When he went to touch her once more, his hand went right through her, like a ghost. Then, in the blink of an eye, she vanished._

"_Ura!" he called out, desperately looking for her. "Ura, where are you!? Please! Answer me!"_

_When Deker turned around, he saw flames all around the house. Their house had somehow caught fire. Flames surrounded him on all sides. He felt himself begin to panic even more now because he couldn't find Ura. Finally, he saw her up ahead, looking scared to death._

_He wanted to reach her but the fire prevented him to do so. Ura gasped loudly in fear. "Deker!" she cried out._

_Deker peered through the flames to see that Ura was near the door. "Ura!" he yelled to her. "The door it to your right! Get out of here and get to safety!"_

"_But Deker I—" she began, only to have him interrupt._

"_Go, Ura!" he cut her off. At this point he didn't care about his own safety. He just wanted to get his wife out of there in tact. _

_Ura wept as she felt around for the door, smoke making it hard to make anything out. As Deker looked for a way to get out himself, his eyes widened when he saw that the flames were causing ceiling beams to begin to fall. The one right above Ura snapped and was falling toward her. Without hesitation, Deker darted through the fire, grabbing Ura and rolling her out of the way of harm. Once the two of them finally stopped, he looked into her eyes lovingly with relief, her face briefly coming back into view. She smiled back at him when she saw his face, placing a hand on his cheek. Deker closed his eyes soothingly as he felt her touch and smiled._

_Ura's smile quickly left her face when she suddenly felt Deker jerk and let out a wince. "Deker?" she asked in fear and concern._

_When she looked over his shoulder, she saw a large shard of the wooden ceiling beam jutting out of his back. "You have to…get out of here, Ura…" he barely choked out before his body going entirely limp._

"_Deker, no!" Ura shrieked in horror. _

Just as her scream ended, Deker was thrown out of his nightmare, letting out a frightened gasp as he awoke. He looked around to confirm where he was and to make sure no one was around to hear him—he was alone. He breathed heavily as he sat back, gazing back at the fire. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He wasn't sure if it was from his intense nightmare or the heat of the fire in front of him. He reached into an inner pocket of his clothes and pulled out the silver wedding band he wore in his dream.

"Was that my…wife?" he asked himself, looking at the ring for some sort of answer. His gaze then went from the ring to his red sword. "Ura…masa?" he said slowly. The name of his sword and his wife seemed to have some sort of connection. He rested his head in his hands, trying to wrap his head around this whole ordeal.

An angry look took over his face as he stood up. He slipped the ring on his left ring finger and pulled his sword out of the soil. "I must duel the Red Ranger. Then I shall receive the answers I seek." He said coldly, morphing into his armor and walking away.


	4. The Meeting

Meanwhile, back at the Shiba house the pink, green, blue, yellow and gold rangers all sat around at a table meeting with Mentor Ji. It was unusual that the red ranger wasn't with them. Jayden was normally the first one at these gathering, save for mentor. The team hadn't seen him all day, not since they had that strange encounter with the Moogers. They noticed that was when Jayden started acting…different. But the thing about this meeting was, it wasn't called on by Mentor.

Kevin stood up and looked over his team, a serious look on his face. "Mentor, we've all called you here because we need to talk to you." He said.

Mentor looked at the blue ranger and nodded, holding his staff in his hands. "Of course, Kevin." He answered. "About what?"

The rangers all exchanged glances before Mia finally spoke up. "Jayden." She told him.

Ji gave a quick once over to the team, now realizing that Jayden wasn't among them. "Where is he?" he asked them.

"He's in his room studying the Sealing Symbol Power—just like he has been for…" Mike said, looking to his watch. "…twelve hours now."

Mentor Ji nodded in understanding. "Mastering that specific symbol power is a daunting task that takes a great deal of concentration and discipline." He reminded them.

Emily stood when she heard these words. "But, he's locked himself in there. He hasn't come out once—not even for food. Also, none of us can get in there to make sure he's okay."

Mia shook her head in dismay. "Jayden wouldn't even come out for one of my famous sushi cupcakes." She said, not noticing the groans of disgust coming from her team. Mia was the only one that didn't notice that her cooking was…better left uneaten. Her friends feared her concoctions almost as much as they feared the Nighlok.

"It isn't just that." Antonio added on. "He totally freaked out during training this morning. He demolished one of the training dummies, smashing it like it was Master Xandred himself."

Ji let out a hard sigh before speaking. "The burden of being the red ranger is a great one. Jayden deals with a lot of struggles because of that. Putting any of you in danger is his biggest fear." He explained.

"Well," Emily chimed in, "Jayden getting hurt is one of _our_ greatest fears as well. If he's struggling with something…we'd need to know what it was so we could maybe find a way to help him."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, rangers." Ji broke to them, quickly seeing their spirits fade to sadness. He stood and began to walk out of the room. "All you need to know is that Jayden _will_ master that symbol power. Everything else will be revealed in due time."

XXX

As the team had their meeting with one another, the possessed Jayden searched through every drawer and paper in his desk. He wanted nothing more than to learn that sealing power and report it back to his master so they could find some way to nullify it.

When he couldn't find the answers he so desperately wanted, he flipped the desk over in fury. The papers flying all over the place, floating down to the floor.

The red ranger let out a loud growl. "Grr! Why can't I find the data I need for Red Ranger's symbol power!? It has to be here somewhere!'

Suddenly, he heard the gap sensor go off, ringing loudly in his ears. A moment later, he heard a faint knocking on his door.

"Jayden? We need your help, there's signs of a Nighlok attack on the beach." Emily said through the door, fear somewhat emitting through her voice. She was afraid she was disturbing him and with his new personality he had, she didn't want to ruffle his feathers.

Poe knew that he had to go with the rangers to maintain his image of Jayden, so he was at a crossroad. "Damn it!" he shouted, punching the wall beside him with all his might, cracking it with ease.

Once he calmed down he altered his voice to sound like that of the red ranger. "Be right there!" he told Emily. A few seconds later his voice deepened and became lower. "I have to keep up appearances." He said to himself, his eyes flashing red once more.


	5. Battling at the Beach

The rangers all arrived back at the beach where they had fought the Moogers earlier, it was also the place where they noticed Jayden beginning to act strangely. It was nightfall and the moon shone high in the blackened sky. The ocean looked nothing like it did during the day. It now looked like a large black abyss wanting to suck the rangers in.

The rangers had expected to see a group of Moogers, led by a nasty Nighlok, but it wasn't. Before them stood Deker in his Nighlok form. He was peering at the water until he heard the rangers running to him.

"Oh great, it's Deker." Mike said with a sigh.

Deker, not at all amused, turned to them slowly. "I do not wish to fight anyone but Red Ranger. I _won't_ let you weakling interfere!" he yelled, unsheathing his sword Uramasa.

As Deker did so, he also summoned a large group of Moogers to handle the other rangers while he battled Jayden. Not surprised at the appearance of the Mooger clan, the rangers all pulled out their Samuraizers.

"Go, go samurai!" the five colored rangers called out.

"Gold power!" Anotnio interjected. Then he and the other rangers were thrown into their ranger forms.

Jayden, still possessed by Poe, looked at his suit in awe. He couldn't believe that he was actually the red ranger at this point, joined by all the powers that Jayden had mastered over time.

"This power…" Poe whispered in a fascinated voice.

Emily and the other rangers all darted for all the Moogers. "Come on guys! We can handle the Moogers no problem!" she called out.

Jayden still stood there, completely drawn in by the surges of power he felt. Once he looked ahead he saw Deker standing in front of him, his sword drawn and ready for battle at any given moment.

"The time for our duel has finally come Red Ranger." Deker said in a deep voice. This was the moment he was waiting for for as long as he could remember.

Jayden just let out a wicked chuckle and unsheathed his own Spin Sword. "I'd never refuse a battle." He told him, getting into a fighting stance. He still held his sword back handed, which took Deker a bit by surprise.

The two began to circle one another. "Your stance is different." Deker observed.

Jayden just shrugged off his words. "Haven't you ever heard the term, old dogs, new tricks?" he asked him.

"Hmm.." Deker laughed to himself. "Uramasa should be pleased with a newer fighting style." He continued.

"Then let's get this party started." Jayden responded.

A beat later, the two warriors bolted towards one another, showing no mercy. Jayden was unable to land one attack on Deker, which had never happened in the past. Deker was beating him with a lot more ease than he had before. The thrill of this duel was running very thin. He dodged each swing of Jayden's sword like it was child's play. He also noticed that the red ranger was nowhere near as intuitive as he used to be.

Deker slashed Jayden hard across the chest with Uramasa, making him fly through the air and land hard on his back. He walked over to the fallen ranger and looked down at him, aiming his sword at Jayden's helmet. Jayden answered by blocking Uramasa with his own sword.

"You're not red ranger." Deker said with anger. "Who are you?"

Jayden just laughed in amusement. "What are you talking about? I_ am _the red ranger!" he roared, pushing hard on his sword, pushing Deker backward.

Deker just sighed. "You're a fool." He responded. "You have no intuition as to what moves I'll use and lack the basic power and skills Red Ranger has honed. Also," he said, pointing at Jayden's backhanded holding of the Spin Sword, "you hold your weapon backhand—a technique very few swordsman use. It's more of a dagger technique." He explained to him.

"So…someone finally figured it out." Poe admitted. "But this vessel is all I need to learn the Sealing Symbol Power to keep Master Xandred safe!" he said, putting a hand to his chest.

"I see Master Xandred went back on his word to let _me_ handle the red ranger." Deker replied, shaking his head. "But it doesn't matter to me. I am going to duel Red Ranger whether Xandred opposes or not."

"Well, that little red ranger-hood isn't coming back anytime soon!" Poe yelled in response.

Deker threw his head back, he couldn't believe that Master Xandred would trust someone so ignorant to handle the red ranger over him. "Clearly, you underestimate the red warrior's strength—his resolve. You may have control over him for now, but it won't last. Something _will_ eventually coax him out." He warned the Nighlok.

Poe just chortled. "Really? Like what?" he asked, totally unafraid of Deker's threats.

Deker just twirled his sword and aimed it back at Poe. "Me." He answered simply, charging hard and fast at the fake ranger. He slashed his sword hard across Poe's chest, hi body now crackling with electricity. Poe groaned loudly and grabbed his chest. The real Jayden then had a black mist exit his body, screaming as it did so. After a few moments, the black cloud of mist faded into nothingness.

Jayden fell to his knees, gasping for air. Deker took a few steps over to him and extended a hand to help him up. "Welcome back, Red Ranger." He said in a surprisingly kind voice.

Jayden looked around in confusion. He didn't know where he was or how he'd gotten there. He had no idea what was going on. "What…" he said slowly, taking Deker's hand and standing. "What happened?" he asked. He then turned to Deker with widened eyes. "Did you just…save me?"

Deker dropped Jayden's hand just as he stood and turned away. "Only in an effort to save myself." He answered. "You were possessed by a Nighlok all this time. Xandred's newest crony, Poe. I exorcised him from your body because we still need to duel. I want the real thing—not some imposter. That wouldn't be enough to satisfy Uramasa." He said, looking at the red blade. "Poe's skills paled greatly in comparison to yours."

Jayden was still trying to process everything that had happened in the last sixty seconds. The last thing he wanted to do right now was have an epic duel with his arch rival.

"Show me what you've got!" Deker shouted at him. Just as Jayden went to reach for his Samuraizer, a loud rumbling of thunder and lightning filled the sky. Jayden and Deker both paused to see what it was.

"**DEKER!**" Xandred's voice screamed through the clouds. A beat later a lightning bolt came down hard at both of them. Jayden was able to roll away at the last second, but the bolt hit Deker directly. Deker let out a hard scream of anguish, his sword flying out of his hands and piercing into the sand.

The other rangers looked over to this event in total surprise. "Look! Master Xandred is attacking Deker!" Mia called out.

"Whoa…" Kevin added. "I thought they were on the same side!"

Deker fell forward onto the ground, surges still crackling around his body. He reached as far as he could to get Uramasa, but it was just out of his reach. He felt his morphed form leave him quickly.

"**How dare you destroy one of **_**my**_** monsters!?**" Xandred went on in his booming voice. "**I'm not going to let you get away with this, Deker! Not a chance!**" Xandred then let out a surge that teleported Deker away from the beach and into his lair for punishment.

Once the other rangers finished off the Moogers, they all ran over to Jayden to get a handle on what had just transpired. "What the heck just happened!?"Mike exclaimed.

Jayden slowly walked over to Uramasa and pulled it from the sand and gazed at it. "I don't know."


End file.
